The Name Conundrum
by TerribleWaitress
Summary: Visiting home after her break-up with Kurt, Penny finds that the Nebraskan nightlife was incredibly generous to her on her first night out as a single woman. The only problem is, alcohol-induced memory loss is taking its toll and she can't quite remember one very important detail: his name.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N - Okay, so I was listening to Scott Alan's song _His Name_. (YouTube it: search His Name Sarah Davis) Anyway, this suddenly kinda just formed in my mind, and bam, here it is! Hope you enjoy :) It may become a two-shot. Just a bit of fun! **

* * *

Despite the ferocious pounding in her head and vile taste in her throat, Penny awoke with a smile on her face. Releasing a half-hum half-groan, she stretched her arms over her head and blinked her eyes open, squinting as she sat up and gathered herself from her sleepy state. She grabbed for the large bottle of water she knew she'd left for herself before going out and gulped what was left in it down before forcing herself out of bed and padding into her bathroom. After a quick shower, much needed toilet break and even more needed tooth brushing to get rid of the taste of alcohol and possibly vomit (though she was sure she hadn't been sick), she felt human enough to head into the kitchen. The taste of coffee after mint toothpaste was better than the post-alcohol non-brushed taste that she'd just gotten rid of.

"Morning sweetheart," her mother said with a knowing grin, pouring a fresh mug of coffee and handing it over as Penny sat down at the breakfast bar.

"Mmhmm, hey."

"How did the Nebraskan nightlife treat you as a _legal _drinker?"

Holding up a finger, Penny took a large sip of coffee before replying. "Just as well as it did when I was eighteen."

"Better than the LA nightlife?"

"Difficult to say, I can't remember much from nights out. Besides, whenever I went out in LA, I was always with Kurt. Last night I went out as a single girl for the first time in four years and it was-" Penny's eyes suddenly went wide. "Oh _God_."

"What?"

"I... kind of... hooked up last night." Penny admitted, the memory suddenly incredibly vivid. So _that's _why she'd woken up with a smile.

"So, the Nebraskan nightlife treated you _really _well."

"Yup, guess it did." Penny smirked. Her mother had always called her out on these things, knowing what had happened without even having to ask - they always joked, along with Penny's older sister, that it was because she'd been the exact same. Sometimes she hated it, but for the most part, Penny enjoyed having this closeness with her mother, and being able to talk to her like a best friend. Now that she was twenty-one, at least she could share these things with her mother and not get the judgmental head-shake.

"So I guess its not that bad being single then, huh?"

"Nope, not all. I'm gonna go get my phone."

"Check for any evidence of the fun?"

Jaw dropping, Penny's head turned back to look at her mother as she went to leave the kitchen. "Mom!"

"What? That's what you're gonna do, anyway."

"Ugh, shut up." Penny laughed as she headed back to her bedroom. Her mom wasn't wrong; she headed straight to her phone.

There were a few messages from her friends; a few from the night before that she managed to read from the drunken attempts at writing that they had gotten home. The rest were from this morning, various stages of the usual hungover hatred and trying to work out what had happened. But Penny wasn't looking for those messages. She'd hooked up with a guy; surely she'd gotten his number too. And it wasn't even just making out hooking up - no, it was sex in the back of his car hooking up.

Unable to find any evidence of a new contact or number, not even in her notes or recent calls, she groaned. Her memory was very insistent on reminding her just how _amazing _their time had been. And only that, apparently, as she found no photos of this guy on her phone either to aid her memory of what he actually looked like. Aside from hot, because she could remember flirting like hell over her Cosmopolitan and thinking how great it would be to run her hands through his blonde hair. Or was it brown? One of the two, anyway. His eyes had been amazing too, looking at her both like she was the most beautiful person to walk this earth, and that he would take her right there on that bar if it were socially acceptable to do such a thing. Which was both cute and insanely hot. Behind those black-rimmed glasses (_so damn hot_, she remembered) were the most admirable blue... green... brown... something eyes that had ever looked at her. God, she wished she'd drunk less so she could remember what he actually looked like. Usually it was a blessing, making it easy to avoid awkward encounters should she ever bump into the person - she wouldn't be able to give them even a second glance. But this time she really, _really _wished she could remember what he looked like.

Or what his name was.

"Fuck."

She didn't even know his name. Sure, she remembered moaning and yelling it. A _lot_. So much so that she could almost feel it in the back of her throat. She could even hear him groaning her name; a memory that made her bite her lip mid-smile.

"Oh my God!"

Jumping up, Penny practically flung herself over to her purse from the night before that she'd dropped onto the couch to the side of her bathroom door. He'd written his number down on the back of a napkin! Suddenly perking up like a meerkat, she dropped her purse as she remembered that she'd then placed that napkin in her bra, winking at him, saying it was for "safekeeping". Hopping to the pile of clothes by her bed, she fumbled through them. No napkin.

"Oh _balls_."

Of course it still wasn't with her clothes. She'd taken them all off in the back of his car, and neither napkins nor bras were adhesive. That napkin with both his name and number were somewhere in the back of his car with her panties. Her new purple panties as well, she remembered with a sigh. Oh well, at least he had something to remember her by.

Leaning her head against the side of her bed, she sat on the floor and shut her eyes. Boy did she wish she had drunk a little less so she could remember a little more. Especially with this guy, who had a really cool job that she no longer knew the title of. She'd bragged about it to her friends later after the pair had stumbled back into the club, him returning to his friends who didn't look like they belonged in a club, her returning to her friends who were instantly on her for the gossip. And she had had a _lot _to tell them. She was pretty sure that she'd gotten so carried away in her drunken post-sex excitement that she'd slurred about him being _the one _and that she'd marry him right then and there if she could.

This idea, she wasn't quite fond of sober. She'd just gotten out of a four-year relationship and wasn't ready for anything serious. But then again, if this guy had made her consider it when drunk, and she was still thinking about simply him now, maybe she would. Might as well, he seemed like a great guy, aside from the glaring fact that she had no clue who he was. Heck, she'd marry him just for the sex, he really was a genius.

Her phone buzzed, and she reached up to see the message. It was from a friend, asking if she may have taken her credit card by accident. With a groan, Penny hauled herself back up and went to look through her purse before replying that she didn't. Raising a brow, she wondered if she'd given the guy her number. This was likely, as she wasn't shy of giving her number to guys.

What if he called her? What was she going to say? She didn't even know his name. _Hello you _sounded too playful, and just _hello _was a bit too awkward for somebody you slept with. _Hello lover_? What the hell kind of person answered the phone like that to a stranger? It's not like she'd know it was him calling, since she didn't have him saved to her phone. And then what would she say? _Yeah, I'd love to do it again in the back of your car. But I won't say your name. Keep it mysterious. _No, there was no way out of it. It would be awkward. The part of her that wanted him to call her suddenly lessened.

The smell of pancakes wafted through to her room, leading her back into the kitchen. She slammed her phone down on the breakfast bar to announce her presence.

"Hungry are we?"

"Yup." Penny nodded.

"Here," Meryl brought over to her an empty plate along with a plate stacked full of freshly baked pancakes. "You wanna head into the front room? I'm just gonna finish this batch then go eat in there, TV's on."

"Ooh, yeah, good idea." Penny nodded, stacking the empty plate beneath the full one in one hand, she grabbed the syrup in the other. "Can you bring my coffee through when you come in?"

"Sure thing, sweetheart. I'll pour you a fresh cup."

"Awesome."

Enjoying the scent of her mothers freshly baked food, something she missed living on her own in Pasadena, she headed into the front room. Even with Kurt, they never really cooked anything. And pancakes at breakfast cafes were just never the same. She sat down, settling herself onto the couch once she'd filled up her own plate and practically drowned the food in syrup. Definitely one of her favorite hangover cures.

About to put an overly generous forkful of syrup-drowned pancake into her mouth, Penny heard a small commotion from the kitchen.

"Penny!" Meryl yelled. "Leonard's on the phone!"

Fork dropping into her plate, splattering syrup everywhere, Penny dumped the plate onto the coffee table as she stood up. "Leonard! His name was Leonard!" She announced to the room. "_Coming Mom!_" she yelled, whilst musing that Leonard was quite a... _he's a scientist! _Penny remembered, as she eagerly rushed to the kitchen. _And his eyes are brown, idiot, how did you forget that after all the over-the-cocktail-glass eye-sex!_ Practically skidding across the floor, she grabbed her phone from her mothers hands, taking a second to compose herself. Meryl walked out of the kitchen with a smirk. "Hey, hi."

"Hi. Uh, it's Leonard. From-"

"Yeah, I remember you." Penny smiled, unable to help the flirtatious tone of voice.

"Oh, cool. Great. You wrote your number on the back of my hand and it was kinda, you know, smudged, so I just had to take a shot with guessing some of the numbers. I'm glad I got them right."

"Me too." Penny blurted out, quickly continuing to cover up her enthusiasm for his calling her. "I think I lost that napkin with your number on in-"

"Yeah, I know, I went to get my car just now and saw it in there. And by the way, I have your, umm, panties, too."

Grinning, Penny bit down on her lip as she wandered back to her bedroom. "Those I remember losing there."

She heard him chuckle for a moment before he asked, "do you want those back?"

Unable to tell if her need to squeal _yes _was from getting her panties back or seeing him again to get said panties (though she knew it was probably the latter), she simply nodded and replied "yeah, that would be great."

"Okay, I'm meeting someone later for dinner so I can stop by before then."

_Oh_. Penny was confused by the wave of disappointment coursing through her. Why did she get that from the possibility of this guy she had casually slept with the night before, having dinner with somebody else? That didn't ever happen. She could blame the whole marriage thoughts and disappointment thing on the hangover, Penny decided. "Who you going to dinner with?"

"Just the guy I was working here with, I'm heading back tomorrow so it's a kind of thank you for helping out with the research thing."

"Ah, I see." All of a sudden, she felt a lot better. And _way _more confident. "Perhaps you could... umm, stop by _after _dinner?"

"I- yeah, I don't see why not."

"I know a place that does the most amazing desserts."

"That sounds good. I'll make sure not to have dessert with my dinner then."

"Uh-huh. Just, I think, maybe tonight I'm gonna hold back on the alcohol a bit... completely. This hangover is bad enough." _And I want to actually remember more than what goes on between us in the back of your car tonight. _

"Yeah, good idea. I'm woke up a bit worse for wear myself. The coffee, shower and walk did help quite a bit though."

"Yeah, that's good. The fresh air always helps. So, I'll see you tonight, then?"

"Yes, I'll text you when I'm done with dinner. The table is booked for seven, so I guess somewhere after eight. Send me your address and I'll stop by."

"Perfect. I'll do that."

"Great. Have a nice day, Penny."

"You too," Penny smirked, "Leonard."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N - Here is part two! I simply couldn't not write it. :) **

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Turning his head at the tapping on the passenger side window, Leonard smiled as he saw Penny grinning at him before she got into the car with a happy "hey!"

"Hey," he continued to smile widely as she did up her seatbelt. To his surprise, she leaned in and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek that was closer to his lips than he was accustomed to when it came to cheek kissing. "So, uh-"

"You drive, I'll tell you where to go." Penny giggled. "I think we can forgo the small talk, since, you know..." Biting her lip, she raised her brows at him suggestively.

Leonard nodded slowly. He really wasn't used to women being this forward with him. Mostly it was awkward small talk followed by more awkward small talk. "Oh, yeah, sure."

Patting his hand over the gearstick, Penny winked. "Lets go."

"Right!" Shaking his head to focus on what was actually going on rather than this beautiful woman in his car being so much more forward than he could ever imagine anybody acting toward him, he cleared his throat and started the car back up. As he pulled onto the road, he turned his head briefly to look at her. "Uh, where do I go at the top of the road?"

"Left. The first three turns are left."

"So... away from the main road?"

"Yup."

Frowning, he looked at her skeptically. "Are we _actually _going somewhere for dessert?"

"Actually, yes." Penny beamed at him proudly. "I _did _consider just making this like a... '_dessert_' date. But there actually is this really great place. My sister isn't allowed in there anymore because... well, long story short, she kinda was having her cake and... eating it too."

Leonard blinked. "Wow."

"Yeah. But don't worry. We'll have dessert first."

_First? _Leonard felt himself panic slightly. He had sort of assumed there would be more than just talking and eating food-desserts. God, even the thought of it made him nervous. He knew from what had happened the night before that she must be quite confident, but he hadn't expected it so soon into their sober meeting. "Cool." He mustered. Somehow, despite what had happened the night before in the back of his car, he was still really quite unsure of how to act around her.

They drove mostly in silence, the radio playing contentedly like a theme tune to their journey, Penny giving him directions every so often. As the roads were mostly empty and the place she had in mind wasn't too far away, it didn't take them long to get there and before he could think about whether the silence was awkward or comfortable, Leonard had parked the car. He got out quickly before rushing over to the other side to open Penny's door for her.

"Aw, thank you." She grinned as she got out, accepting his hand. Their arms linked as he locked the car and Penny led them over to a vintage-looking cafe. "Ta-dah!"

Eyes taking in the place, Leonard smiled in appreciation. He could tell it must be quite a popular local place as the red booths were mostly taken, a fair amount well-dressed couples. He hoped she couldn't tell that the couples-singles-families-friends ratio increased his nervousness - this now seemed like a lot more than just two people meeting up, and a lot more like a date. He was worked up enough about the fact that he had slept with someone he didn't even know - it just wasn't like him. Even this arm linking seemed strange to him. "It looks really nice." He commented.

"Right? It's so cute." Penny agreed. She pulled him along slightly towards the waitress walking to them with menus. "Hi, table for two please!"

"Sure, follow me."

The waitress, dressed in a floral waist-high knee-length skirt that flared out and a pink shirt that tied up just above the waistband of the skirt, led them to a booth near the back, where there was a large window providing them with a spectacular view of the field beyond in the night sky. Penny let go of his arm and slid into the booth, and he followed suit opposite her. The waitress introduced herself as Amber, and gave them the red-and-white striped menus before returning to her station by the front of the cafe.

Scanning the menu, he frowned before looking up at Penny. "Umm, Penny, I have to tell you something."

"What?" Penny raised a brow. "Please tell me it's not like, you have a disease and it's possible I may have gotten it too."

"No, no, no! It's nothing like that!"

"Oh, thank _God_."

"It's just... I'm lactose intolerant. So a lot of the things on here are... you know, I can't have them."

"Oh! Wow, I was expecting something a _lot _worse than that. There's still stuff on here that you can have. Like... oh! You could have the strawberry cake. I mean, it has whipped cream on, but you can scrape it off. Or..." Penny twisted her lips in thought, and he smiled at how much thought she was putting into the simple task of finding a dessert for him. "Jam tarts, or the mini cake selection, _or _they have vegan recipe desserts that you could try. Like, my friend is trying to be vegan, and she got those vegan pancakes with strawberries and syrup, and oh my _God _they were actually so good!"

"A-alright." Leonard stuttered, picking his menu back up. "Thanks."

"No problem!" She responded perkily.

Soon after, another waitress approached their table. "Hey. I'm Jenna. Are you ready to order?"

Leonard looked at Penny, who nodded and shrugged a shoulder to her ear as if to ask, 'are you?'. "Yeah, we are." He gestured back to Penny to indicate she should order first, not having quite made up his mind.

"Okay. I'll have... the strawberry cake, and a coffee. I think I'll wanna be as awake as possible tonight." She winked in Leonard's direction and the waitress rolled her eyes.

"I'll have a coffee too, and the vegan pancakes with strawberries, blueberries, and I think I should be okay with some chocolate syrup."

"Cool."

The waitress walked off, and Penny snorted. "That's rude. What kind of crappy customer service is that supposed to be? Usually they're really nice."

"Well, sometimes they're having an off day or something I guess."

"Suppose so. Anyway," Penny shrugged, perking up once more and grinning at him. "What brings you all the way out to Nebraska, Leonard?"

Smiling, his put his hands on the table. It wasn't often that women would want to hear about him; usually they just went on about themselves. He couldn't help but notice just how gorgeous her smile was. "Umm, well, I'm an experimental physicist and I work at a university. They asked me to come over to the universities, schools and colleges round here and do a few lectures and presentations. Kind of like, represent the university and promote our graduate and doctoral programs."

"Ooh, fancy. A scientist." Penny nodded approvingly, biting her lip. "So how did a physicist end up at a nightclub? Am I wrong in assuming its not your usual... social... thing?"

He could tell by the way she nervously trailed off that she was worried that she had said the wrong thing or offended him, but he knew exactly what she meant and why she had asked. Being an experimental physicist, short and bespectacled, didn't particularly scream frequent clubber - and she wasn't exactly wrong. He hadn't been to many before at all. His friends, on the other hand... "My friends came with me. Howard is one of those guys who _thinks _he's great with the ladies but really, he's not. Raj can only talk to women when he's drunk. Howard was the one in the tight red pants and Raj was... the Indian one."

"Ah, right." Penny giggled. "Dragged along unwillingly but got lucky anyway."

"Yeah, pretty much." Leonard smiled. "So, yeah. That's how I ended up there. They made me the designated driver but I ended up drinking... a lot. I don't drink that often so when I do it's... yeah." He shook his head as she nodded knowingly. "So, do you live here in Omaha?" He had decided that was a safe presumption, since she knew the place so well.

"I used to; I grew up here. I actually moved out when I was eighteen with my boyfriend but we broke up a few weeks ago. My Mom suggested I come home for a bit. I actually start my new job in a few days time; I had to leave my old job since the new apartment I'm moving into is too far to travel in my stupid car."

"Oh, I'm sorry." _Am I rebound sex, then? _Leonard thought, trying not to show the disappointment on his face.

"Nah, it's alright. We were together for four years and I was upset at first but... man, he was an _ass_. I knew he was cheating on me but I never said anything, then I found him in our bed with some girl, so... it's better this way. You know? I was eighteen when we got together, now I'm twenty one I feel like it's a good time to be moving on and starting afresh with everything." Penny put her hand over his and smiled, and he wondered if she felt bad for putting that disappointment on his face that he'd clearly been unable to hide.

"That's a good outlook to have." He said.

"Yeah, it is, that's what my parents said." Penny told him thoughtfully, as the waitress brought over their coffees and desserts. "So, where did you come here from?"

"Originally? I was born and raised in New Jersey." Leonard watched as Penny picked up her coffee and inhaled the smell before taking a sip. "But I work at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena-"

The sip of coffee Penny had been taking ended up down her chin, chest and dress as she choked on the liquid in her mouth. "Oh my God." Putting her coffee cup down, she grabbed a tissue and began dabbing at herself. "Pasadena?"

"Yeah. I live and work in Pasadena." Leonard clarified, confused about all the fuss. "Are you okay?"

Peering down her dress and frantically wiping away the spilled coffee, she scrunched the tissue up before wiping at the splatters of coffee on the table in front of her before looking up at him and putting the tissue at the end of the table. "My new apartment and job are in Pasadena!"

"Really? Wow! That's so cool!"

"Right? What a coincidence!" Penny slapped the table with a hand excitedly. "What are the _odds _that we hook up all the way out here in Omaha and we _both _are gonna be going back to Pasadena!"

Leonard chuckled at the thought that his roommate back in Pasadena would presently offer to calculate the odds of this situation happening. He himself, however, wasn't like that. "I know; it's so weird."

"Who knows, maybe we'll have a little something-something there too." Penny wiggled her brows, stroking his hand lightly with her fingers. "When do you head back?"

"Tomorrow, actually."

"Oh, I'm heading back on Tuesday." Penny gave an almost apologetic shrug.

He wanted to say _that's a shame_, though he didn't know why. It wasn't as if they'd been planning to head back to Pasadena, or had known they both lived there for longer than five minutes. In fact, she _didn't _live there yet, so his disappointment at them not travelling together was practically unfounded. Though he had to admit, travelling with her would be a lot more fun than it was going to be with his friends. "Are you driving back?" He asked instead.

"Nah, my parents bought my flights. Kind of a sympathy break-up treat, though they haven't seen me in four years apart from on Skype, so I guess they were really keen to get me over here again." Penny frowned in consideration. "Boy, I really did have my head in the clouds all that time, thinking I'd never have to return to Omaha and everything would be perfect forever even though it was far from it. I never called them, it was always my parents who called me and then I'd be like, _God _I'm a grown up stop trying to check in on me all the time!"

"At least your parents care enough to check in on you. My mother only ever calls if she's going to be over in Los Angeles for an obligatory visit while she's 'in the area' and that's about it."

"Are you not that close with her... them?"

"No, not really. I hardly ever talk to my father at all, even less so than my mother. I grew up quite distant from them so it really doesn't bother me much anyway. But still, it would be nice if they actually cared."

"Aww, that's too bad."

And there it was; Penny's hand on his again. This time her fingers ran along his hand more sympathetically than suggestively, but it still made his pulse race. He simply stared at her hand on his for a while, almost mesmerized by this little action. It was quite nice, actually, since he very rarely received sympathy from anybody. Deciding to brave it and go against the voice in his head screaming that he was stupid for thinking she liked him despite the physicality going on between them, he raised his head and smiled at her. She smiled back. His heart raced even faster, and he thanked every God there was that his palms, by some miracle, weren't sweating. Slowly, they both moved their hands, interlocking their fingers. He gulped as her lips parted slightly. Leonard could have sworn she had begun to inch her head toward his.

"Strawberry cake and vegan pancakes." The waitress announced, having returned with what Leonard couldn't decide to be either nerve-saving or moment-ruining timing.

Clearing her throat, Penny nodded, snatching her hand back. "Uh, yeah."

Placing the plates in front of them, the waitress said a dull "enjoy" before leaving again.

"Boy she really doesn't want a tip, does she?"

"Apparently not." Leonard agreed. "Bon appetite."

"Ooh." Penny grinned, picking up her fork. "Bon appetite to you too."

Digging into their desserts, Leonard found himself letting out an involuntary "mmm!" of satisfaction at the pancakes. He had been a bit wary of them being vegan, not being one to experiment with food too much, but they were a thousand times better than any pancake he had ever eaten. He supposed the company helped too, but they truly were delicious.

"Enjoying those pancakes?" Penny asked.

"Oh my God, they're so good. You're right, the desserts here are the best!" He responded enthusiastically. "How is your cake?"

"Uh-huh." Penny slowly pulled the fork from her mouth, taking her time to swallow to piece of cake and then lick her lips. "_So _good."

Unsure of how to respond to Penny's seemingly teasing eating-of-cake display, Leonard simply stared at her wide-eyed for a moment before busying himself with eating his pancakes. He could have sworn he saw her smirk as he looking down at his own food. Quickly realizing that he was practically inhaling his food, he slowed down a little and snuck a glance back up at Penny, who had her eyes on him as she continued eating her cake.

"Is, uh, d-do you usually get the strawberry cake?" Leonard found himself asking, in need of a distraction to ease the - what he was confident was - sexual tension between them that she was initiating and upholding.

"Oh, no. Juicy strawberries, nuts, whipped cream... I save this treat for when it's _really _deserved."

Okay, so that wasn't really helping. Tapping his foot lightly to try ease his nerves, he searched around for something else to help him. Nothing came to mind. She was just simply the exact opposite of every woman who had ever spoken to him. Forward, confident, not afraid to put herself out there to him.

"Hey, I-"

"Keep walkin'."

And turn muscular hunks away in favor of him. All Leonard could do in that moment was blink rapidly at the way she so easily dismissed the guy who had come up to her, hardly having time to stop before she verbally pushed him away. The exchange had lasted four words. He was not accustomed to being chosen over... anybody, really, let alone a guy with a million times the confidence and looks he had. He smiled smugly to himself as he returned to finishing his pancakes. They didn't say anything to each other about what had just happened. But he could see, every time he looked up, Penny very slowly finishing the last slice of her cake. He was pretty certain she slowed down even more whenever she caught him looking at her, purposely waiting to lick whipped cream from her lips until his eyes were upon them. It was torture. Which made the moment they both finally finished their desserts feel like a giant weight had been lifted off his shoulders. With all her food play, she really _was _having her cake and eating it too.

_I'd like to be eating that cake too_, he thought, raising a suggestive brow in her direction. Realizing what he was doing, he rolled his shoulders and sat back up straight.

"So... can I safely assume there's no girlfriend back in Pasadena?" Penny asked, pushing her empty plate and incredibly clean fork toward the middle of the table.

"You can." Leonard nodded, not sure what exactly her question implied. He was about to ask whether he could assume the same for her, before remembering that she had already told him she'd recently been cheated on and broken up.

"Good. Then I don't feel so bad about doing this." She said, and before he could ask what, her foot was sliding up his leg.

He'd noticed she was wearing flip-flops earlier; had she purposely worn them just for this? Her hand was in the air waving for the waitress to bring over their check and he raised his brows at her actions beneath the table. She smiled innocently at him.

"I, umm..." Leonard was so lost for words by this point, that what came out of his mouth next was a complete shock to him. "D'you want to come back to my hotel room with me?"

Biting down on her lip, Penny grinned at him, nodding as the waitress set down their bill without a word. "Oh yes."

_Wow_. _Where the hell did that come from? Oh, who cares? She said yes! _


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N - Kinda enjoying this scenario too much. Season 1 Penny and Leonard are a lot of fun to play with! **

* * *

The drive to the hotel Leonard was staying at was torture. Not just for Leonard, who was trying his best to focus on driving with Penny's hand on his thigh the whole time, gently squeezing with an innocent smile. Penny was the kind of girl who, when she wanted something, she got it. She wasn't afraid to go all out for what she wanted. And she _really_ wanted Leonard. Whether it was in just a physical way or something more than that, she had yet to tell. What she was unable to remember mentally from the night before, her body made up for as though it had a touch memory. Her mind, however, was yelling at her that she'd just had an amazing time with this man and perhaps there was more than just a physical craving inside her. But she was too scared still to explore that or even admit to it. Feelings simply weren't her forte. Feeling, on the other hand, was a lot more to her taste, her hand gliding slightly further up his thigh with a smirk as she remembered how great-

"Here we are."

Clearing her throat, Penny blinked for a moment and slowly removed her hands. "Oh! Uh, great." By the time she'd come to her senses, he'd already gotten out of the car and round to her side to open the door for her, holding a helping hand out. "Thank you," she said, taking his hand and stepping out of the car. Her eyes widened as she took a proper look up at the hotel. "_Jesus_!"

"What?"

"This is like, the best hotel in Omaha! They have jacuzzi jets in the bath tubs! My friends parents had their wedding here so we got to stay the night and it was _awesome_!" Penny looked at Leonard in awe, linking her arm through his as they made their way up to the entrance. "You really must be some, like, bad ass scientist to be put in a hotel like this round here."

"Well, to be honest my friend Raj found it and suggested it to the university." Leonard shrugged, before realizing that probably took away a lot of the awe from Penny. And he didn't want to sound lame when things were going so well. "Bu-ut, they did agree to it, so, yeah, they're paying for it all. Even the room service bill. It's kinda awesome."

"Ooh, room service." Penny smirked, once more changing the tone of the conversation. She followed Leonard in through the door, and he gave a small nod to the receptionist. No stranger to joining guys in their hotel rooms, Penny simply threw the receptionist a confident smile.

Stopping abruptly once they'd reached the elevators, Leonard felt himself begin to panic. He'd never invited a girl back to his room before. He really had no idea what he was doing, or what was expected of him, what she expected... what _he _expected. He knew what he wanted: to kiss her. And of course, to do more than that because he couldn't remember much from last night other than that it had been amazing. "I'm on the ninth floor."

"Awesome." Penny nodded, telling herself to try and hold back a little. She got the idea that this wasn't something Leonard did that often, it at all, and she didn't want to put him off. Apparently, logic was only one side of it as her hand travelled up his arm, gently squeezing the muscles there. _Ooh, that feels good. _The elevator arrived, and they silently stepped inside. No sooner had he clicked the circle-enclosed '9' button were her hands back on both his arms, tracing inwards to his chest. She told herself that this didn't count as 'too much' because she could very easily be all over him right now; while her mind was being reasonable her entire body was begging her to ignore the logical side. She'd spent her whole life ignoring the logical side of... well, everything really, and her body wasn't quite sure why she was listening to that logic now.

But she was rewarded when his hands unexpectedly came around her to hold her waist, an apparent understanding overcoming him that the correct thing to do would be to reciprocate in the currently innocent touching department. Smiling, she took a tiny step closer so that her hips leaned into his. Their eyes locked in an intense gaze, breathing hitching and bodies flushing with each passing second. Leonard thought he could look into her green eyes forever. Penny wondered how something as simple as eye contact could be so ultimately intimate. Or at least, those were the thoughts they had in the few seconds their minds had been able to think.

The elevator dinged to announce their floor and the doors slid open. For a moment they simply stood there before suddenly realizing that this was the time to get out of the elevator.

"We should-" Leonard began, removing his hands from her hips and gesturing out to the corridor.

Penny stepped aside and made a breathy sound somewhere between "mmm" and "yeah" before following him out. _Practically speechless already. You're a hopeless single with an apparent liking for cute nerds. Just look at that tushy! _Chewing her lip, she continued to stare at his ass as he led the way to his room. _God, I must be literally unstoppable with these thoughts when I'm drunk if this is how I am sober. Damn hot nerds. _

"This is my room - oh, sorry." Leonard quickly turned his head to look behind him as Penny walked into his back, wondering if he'd stopped too abruptly.

"No, sorry, that was my bad, I was, umm, distracted." Penny said quickly before licking her lips, realizing she hadn't moved her hands from where they'd collided with his arms. "So you were saying - this is your room."

"Right," Leonard turned his head to face forward to the door again, stepping forward slightly and taking his key out. "My room. Yeah. Come in." He opened the now unlocked door, holding it open for her and gesturing inside. "It's... make yourself comfortable. Bathrooms on the right, drinks in the mini fridge under the desk opposite the bed."

"Thanks." Penny flipped her head back to look at him, flashing a grin, before immediately disappearing off into the bathroom to freshen up.

Closing the door behind him, Leonard took a deep breath. So far, so good. He hadn't weirded her out with too much nerd talk, or completely frozen up in conversation or in simple physical contact in the elevator. "You've already had sex with her. You can hold a conversation with her. She's interested in you. There is literally nothing to be nervous about." Leonard told himself quietly as he kicked off his shoes and headed further into his room.

"Did you say something?" Penny called from the bathroom.

_Crap. _"No, nothing!"

He guessed from her lack of further reply that she had accepted his answer. Looking at himself in the mirror, he ran a hand through his hair before removing his glasses to clean them on the edge of his shirt. As he put his glasses back on, he frowned at the sight of his feet. _Star Wars socks! What were you thinking? _Scurrying, he simultaneously hopped to his dresser and took off the offending socks. He picked up a black pair and pulled them on, thankful for his decision to throw his socks and underwear into a drawer when he'd arrived so he didn't have to rummage through his luggage every day to find clean pairs. Returning to the mirror, he cocked his head to the side and decided to undo a button of his shirt. _Not too much, but just enough to say 'hey baby'. _Leonard smirked smugly. Perhaps he was a little more confident than he thought he was.

Hearing the door open, he turned around and grinned at the sight of her smiling as the walked toward him, hips swaying softly. She slipped her shoes off beside his own, dropping her purse down on top of them. As she came closer, he saw that she'd reapplied her lip gloss (or was it lipstick? either way, her lips were now shinier with a fuller color to them like they had been at the start of the night) and ruffled her hair ever so slightly. Maybe even touched up her eye make-up, since her eyes looked even more captivating than they had earlier (if that was even possible).

"Did I tell you how gorgeous you look tonight?" Leonard found himself asking, taking a step in her direction to help her close the distance between them.

"You scrub up pretty damn well yourself." Penny placed her hands on his chest. She ran her hands upwards, then down his arms, over his hands and back up again, her eyes locked on his the whole time. "Yup."

"What?"

"Nothing. Just this."

Inching her head forward, she placed her lips over his, their eyes fluttering closed so their eyelashes almost tickled each others faces. Penny's hands slid up to link behind his neck, as his came to hold her waist and lower back. They stayed like this, lips moving over the others, until they needed a better supply of air. Needing a brief distraction from her urges, Penny moved her lips over his jaw while his hands slowly skimmed down to her ass, subtly pushing her closer into him as she left lipstick marks on his skin. Letting out a long sigh, she lazily tangled her fingers through his curls and caught his lips again. This time they were both hungrier, both more confident and both quicker at getting the kiss to escalate. Before Penny could remember how to completely own being a big old five, she'd automatically parted her lips to allow Leonard's tongue into her mouth. Wanting to reciprocate, she ground her hips softly against his, dropping one hand to his arm to squeeze at the muscles there in encouragement. As her other hand tugged slightly at his hair, he deepened the kiss, his hands gently squeezing in a way that made her crave a whole lot more than she thought was possible. Penny moaned loudly into his mouth as her legs went weak, which Leonard must have sensed as he wrapped his hands around her waist to lift her up. Her legs quickly wrapped around his waist, arms back around his neck and lips crashing onto his after a breath of air. Leonard toppled slightly at the force of how quickly she pushed her lips onto his. Fortunately, they landed with a light thump on the bed. After a quick, singular giggle, they looked at each other before they resumed making out.

* * *

"Penny?"

"Holy _fuck_." Were the first words that fell from Penny's mouth in shock, dropping her purse and keys from her hands. Apparently her attempt to sneak into the house as if it wasn't the morning after hadn't gone unnoticed by her mother. Scrunching up her face, she bent down to shove the contents of her purse back into it before standing straight, expecting her mother to come down the hallway.

"I'm just gonna stay here in the front room and let you walk past unseen."

Nodding her head, Penny pursed her lips together tightly in an almost braced, sarcastic smile. "Thank you, Mom."

"Want me to make you some coffee and breakfast?"

"That's okay, we got room service."

"We? Room service? Wow. Fancy."

"Shut up."

* * *

"So you gonna tell me about this 'sort of date' or just sit there for another two episodes without saying a word, but a huge smile on your face?"

"Huh?" Penny blinked. "Oh, right, sorry."

"In dreamland already are we?" Meryl laughed.

Penny blushed. "Shut up!"

"I don't think I've seen you like this about a guy since you were like, sixteen. So, tell me about him."

"Well, he's a physicist... an experimental physicist, which means he does experiments and stuff. He's here to promote the university he works at over here to students and people considering doing grad stuff too, with some of his colleagues."

"Okay, so he's a scientist. What does he look like?"

"Brown hair, brown eyes. Cute little nerdy glasses. Not all big and muscular like Kurt was but strong in a tender way. Kinda on the short side, which is _really _adorable. It's actually nice not to have to be on my tiptoes just to kiss him."

"Bit of a change from the usual kinda guys you bring home."

"Yeah, I guess it is... but I liked it. And he's kinda shy, like he'll go all quiet and unsure, which is just... adorable. But then he'll say or do something and I'm like, _wow_. And he's just so kind, he talks to _me _and not just my boobs, and he doesn't just tell me I'm hot - he uses nicer words and he _looks _like he means them, rather than just saying them and viewing me as an object instead of a whole person. He was interested in more than my looks, which was basically a first. And the same with him - for the first time I was like, he's a great guy all-round. Like, with Kurt, he was an ass but I thought his looks made up for it in compensation. With Leonard, he's got the whole package."

Meryl smirked. "Sounds as though you like this Leonard guy."

"What?" Penny over-compensated her scoff, almost snorting. "What are you _talking _about-"

"Oh come on, Penny. Like I said, you haven't been this way about a guy since you were sixteen."

"I... it was just a _date, _Mom. I'm allowed to enjoy dates and the person I go on a date with, you know."

"Aw, so no long-distance relationship or travelling back to Omaha to see this guy? Would be nice to have you here more often."

"Actually... he lives in Pasadena."

"Pasadena as in Pasadena where _you're _gonna be living?"

Penny nodded, biting her lip. "Yup."

"Ooh!" Meryl sang.

"_Mom_."

"What? Come on, don't tell me you're not interested in seeing him again, especially if you're _both _living in Pasadena."

"I'm not saying that I'm _not_, I just... don't _know _what's gonna happen. Maybe he doesn't wanna see me again."

"Penny, you hook up with a guy, _then _go on a date with him, and then you come home the next day in the same clothes as you left in the night before with his shirt on for warmth. I think this Leonard guy would be _more _than happy to see you again." _  
_

"How did you know I had his shirt on?"

"Mirror on the wall, it reflects the hallway through the door, remember?" Meryl pointed to the mirror opposite them, indeed reflecting a section of the hallway.

"Oh yeah..." Penny bit at her nail. "Well, still. It's different. I don't even know if I wanna be in a relationship right now, or get involved with a guy. He's not exactly the usual type of person I'd go for anyway, you know? It probably wouldn't even work out. Like, he's a scientist and I'm just gonna be a waitress trying to make something of my life. That's hardly the best match. I mean... do I _want _to see him again? Yeah, I mean, we had a great time, and he's cute, and funny, and smart, and _amazing_... you know." Penny blushed, deciding not to end that part of the sentence. "But I just... don't know."

"Sounds to me like you _do _know and you _do _want something to happen with this Leonard." Meryl observed.

"Yeah. Maybe. Kind of. I don't know!" Penny threw her hands up in exasperation, before getting up from the couch. "I'm gonna go take a shower."

"You've already done that." Meryl pointed out.

"Oh. Right. Well then, I'm gonna start packing."

"You've never once in your life packed any earlier than the night before."

"I might be trying to get more organised!"

"_Or _you might just be trying to get away from me so you can text Leonard."

"Ugh, whatever." Glaring at her mother, Penny grabbed her phone from the coffee table before making her way out of the room. She didn't have to turn back to know that her mother was smirking.

Reaching her room, Penny closed the door and flopped down on her bed. She began to type out a message to Leonard, deciding that her first text to him after a date _shouldn't _include pointing out that she had, for a second time, left her panties with him.

_All the more reason to see him in Pasadena, _Penny thought to herself with a smile.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N - Here's some more... and yup, there will still be more. Oh dear... well, it's a lot of fun to write and explore the situation! **

* * *

"So are you gonna tell us about that hot chick you hooked up with in the club and then went out with last night?" Howard asked within a few minutes of them setting off for Pasadena from the parking lot of their hotel in Omaha, having checked out of the hotel, highly unimpressed with Leonard's lack of even a mention of the blonde goddess.

"Howard, she has a name." Leonard pointed out, rolling his eyes. Nearly everything Howard said, and was predictably going to say, were amongst the reason Leonard hadn't brought Penny up yet.

"Which you have yelled out frequently in the sweet throes of coitus these previous two nights, yes?" Howard raised his brows with an expectant smirk.

"Dude, you're disgusting." Raj wrinkled his nose as he turned to shoot a glare at Howard in the back of the car from his seat in the passenger chair, before turning his attention to Leonard instead. "What _is _her name, anyway?"

"Her name is Penny." Leonard grinned, before being unable to resist adding smugly "and, for your information, I totally did, Howard."

"Oh, you smug bastard." Howard muttered jealously. "How was it?"

"Okay, I am _not _telling you about _that_."

"Aw, come on! Why not?" Howard exclaimed, leaning forward eagerly. "What happens in Nebraska stays in Nebraska! You can tell us!"

"Well... what happened in Nebraska doesn't necessarily have to happen _only _in Nebraska." Leonard admitted slowly.

Howard's jaw dropped slightly in shock and intrigue. "What do you mean?"

"Ooh, are you going on a romantic getaway together?" Raj asked, wide-eyed.

"Umm... not exactly." Leonard paused, using the activity of concentrating on changing lanes to give him some time before answering. "She sort of... lives in Los Angeles."

"In a house with other hot blondes?" Howard asked hopefully.

"Actually, she's moving to Pasadena this week." Leonard said. "And Howard I swear to _God _if you try stalk her or ask her out or_ anything_ at all, you may find one of your collectibles mysteriously going missing or breaking beyond repair."

"Oh my God, what are the chances of you both meeting in Omaha and living in Pasadena!" Raj was beyond excited at the prospect of a possible romance for his friend. "It's like a fairytale! See - this is karma at work. You drive us all the way here and back without complaining, pay for the gas without asking us for a contribution, and you find yourself a pretty girlfriend."

"Raj, she's not my girlfriend. We just-"

"Had a lot of sex." Howard interjected in a low voice, smirking.

"Howard, seriously. Stop ruining the magic of the moment." Raj frowned.

"As I was saying - we just hooked up and then went on a date. I mean, _maybe _something will happen. She _did _say that it could - but we're not, like, _dating_."

"So she's still available?"

"Absolutely not!" Leonard said sharply, furrowing his brow.

"But you just said-"

"That doesn't mean _nothing_ will happen, it just might or might not. We'll just have to see how things go."

Once more, Raj turned back to Howard, shaking his head. "Dude, she was all over Leonard. Don't be so delusional. As if you even stand a chance."

"Yeah, well, she was drunk!" Howard pointed out defensively, searching for a way to worm his way back into the 'desirable' status of the group and open up the possibility to also have a shot.

Leonard smiled smugly. "She wasn't drunk yesterday. Still all over me."

Staring for a moment, Howard finally resigned with a heavy sigh. "I hope you still remember our pact."

"I do. But like I said, I don't know what's gonna happen. Don't get too excited."

"That's what she said." Raj giggled.

"So immature." Howard sneered, arms folded like a stubborn child who'd just been told off.

"Says you."

"Can we just leave this subject alone now please?" Leonard rolled his eyes. "We have a more important matter to discuss - such as; what are we playing tomorrow night, Klingon Boggle or Klingon Monopoly? And which Star Wars soundtrack shall we put on?"

* * *

Leonard frowned as he heard his phone ringing; usually while he was at work, people knew not to call him in case he was busy, opting instead to call after general office hours - and the people who usually _did _call him anyway all worked at the university too so would simply drop by his lab or office. Putting down his pen and pulling out his phone, he smiled in surprise at the name on his screen.

"Hello, Penny." He said, grinning. "This is a pleasant surprise."

"Hey!" Penny greeted him enthusiastically, talking slightly louder than usual to ensure he could hear her over the background noise of the airport. "I'm sorry if I'm disturbing you, I figure you must be at work right now."

"Yeah, I am. But that's okay, I just finished running a test."

"Oh, sorry - do you have a minute?"

"Uh, sure." Leonard said, holding the phone to his hear with his shoulder so he could pick his pen up and scribble down a few important numbers and notes before he forgot them while talking to her. "What's up?"

"I know this is a lot to ask, but... my flight leaves soon, and I was thinking... would you be able to pick me up from the airport? If you're busy then that's okay, but I just thought-"

"No, no, of course I will!" Leonard found himself grinning widely, putting his pen back down so he could pace around his lab. She wanted to see him again! "What time does your flight get in?"

"Oh, thank you _so _much sweetie, you're the best!" Penny bounced slightly in her seat. "It should land at half three. We could go out for dinner later on - my treat to say thank you?"

"Aw, you don't have to, but that does sound nice. I'll have to leave work a bit early but that's okay, there's not that much I have to get done this week." Leonard said. "Luckily the bigger project I'll be doing starts next week so I have some time to tie up the loose ends of what I was doing before they sent me to Nebraska."

Penny giggled, amused by his slight rambling. "Okay, well, thanks. I guess I'll see you soon then. I'll let you know when my flight's landed."

"Alright, great. Have a safe flight!"

"Thanks! See you later, Leonard."

"Bye, Penny."

Hanging up his phone, Leonard walked out of his lab with a smug smile plastered on his face. He was going to see her again, at her request - and they were both going to be living here in Pasadena. Perhaps he _did _have a chance of getting a pretty girlfriend, despite what his friends always thought. He was excited to get to spend more time with her; not only was sex with her _amazing_, but she was a very friendly, kind and interesting person. Her lifestyle was very different to his and it was nice to get to socialize with somebody like that who didn't roll their eyes and scoff when he began talking about his own life, work and hobbies.

Arriving at his destination, Leonard knocked on the door before entering the office of his roommate. "Hey, Sheldon. What is that?" He asked, upon seeing him viciously coloring something on his whiteboard.

"It's a train." Sheldon said simply, stepping back slightly to give his friend a better view of his masterpiece.

"Oh, cool." Leonard nodded approvingly, observing the train drawing as he stepped inside Sheldon's office properly. "Listen, I'm not gonna be able to drive you home today."

"Why not?" Sheldon folded his arms. "Did you send me an email twenty-four hours in advance to let me know?"

"Well... no, I didn't." Leonard admitted. "But I just got a call, and I have to pick somebody up from the airport, so I'll have to leave work early."

"Who?"

"Uh, Penny."

Sheldon raised a brow. "Who is Penny?"

"Umm, this girl I met in Nebraska."

"Will she be staying in our apartment? That requires twenty-four hours advance notice."

"No, she won't. She's actually moving to Pasadena! How cool is that?" Leonard grinned, rolling his eyes after a pause in which Sheldon stared at him inquisitively. "We met in Nebraska. We'll both be here in Pasadena. It's what most people would call a coincidence."

"Ah, I see." Sheldon nodded. "Well, alright. You'll have to ask Koothrappali or Wolowitz to drive me home, since you didn't give me enough advance notice."

Leonard was going to argue that Sheldon could really do this himself, but he really didn't want to ruin his mood by arguing. It's not as though he was going to be doing much work anymore today for this task to get in the way of anything. "Okay."

* * *

"Hey, Kim." Penny said, once her friend had answered her call.

"Hey! You almost on your flight?"

"Yeah, we're boarding soon. Listen, you're not gonna have to pick me up from the airport anymore."

"What? How come? I took the entire afternoon off work for you!" Kim groaned.

"I know, I'm sorry, it's just... I met this guy back home and as it turns out he lives in Pasadena too and... I asked him to come and pick me up."

"Seriously? You're blowing me off for a guy? You're gonna become one of _those _girls?"

"Look, if there's any blowing going on, it's not _you _that's getting the blowing." Penny grinned at her own joke. "And I'm not, it's just... I dunno, I wanna see him again and I just wanna make sure he doesn't forget about me. I mean, how often do you go home to your parents and meet a guy out there who just happens to live in the same city as you're about to move into?"

"So what, is he some kind of rebound sex kinda guy?"

"No! Absolutely not, he is definitely _not _a rebound."

"So you actually like this guy and are worried someone else is going to steal him before you get the chance to see him again?"

Penny bit her lip. "No..." She said uncertainly.

"God, well if you like the guy then by all means ditch me whenever." Kim now grinned too, impressed. She knew that Penny would _never _outright admit that she liked somebody, so her evasion of giving her a proper explanation was more than she needed to know about the situation. "Just make sure he's not an absolute _ass _like Kurt, you've cried enough over that already. If this one does the same to you-"

"He won't." Penny said quickly, her voice certain now. "He's not like that at all."

"How do you know that? You can't have known him _that _long."

"I haven't." Penny admitted. "But he is really different from the usual kind of guys I go for."

"Like an anti-Kurt?" Kim asked.

"Yeah, in the best way possible. He's a scientist, getting completely wasted is actually a super rare thing for him to do, he's nice to just talk to, he has these super cute glasses..." Penny trailed off, smiling to herself. "I mean, okay, it started off as a hook-up and if he was like the usual kind of guy I go for, I would have _hated _myself for getting into the back on someone's car in that state... but we met up the next evening after he called me and it was just really nice. He's smart, and funny, and cute, and a _genius _in bed."

"You must be really entertaining the people in the airport with your monologue there."

"Shut up."

"Alright, alright. But next girls night, I want all the details."

"Yeah, I guessed you would." Penny sighed. "Nosy little bitch."

"Hey! I'm getting you a job, you better be nice to me. Granted, it's only as a waitress, but still. Money. Money that you'll need if you're going to be parading around with this guy, wanting to buy pretty dresses and get your nails done and everything."

Penny cringed slightly at the comparison that crept into her mind of herself, a waitress, being with someone as smart as Leonard. It just didn't balance out. At least with Kurt, they were equally stupid and skill-less so she had nothing to worry about there in terms of their intelligence compatibility. But these things worked sometimes, didn't they? "Ugh, yeah, I know. You know I can't keep my mouth shut with stuff like this anyway."

"You are a bit of a blabber mouth."

"I really am. Oh, they're going to board us now." Penny jumped up, grabbing her bag so she could go join the queue at the gate. "I'll see you tomorrow then at The Cheesecake Factory. They want me in at midday, right?"

"Uh-huh. I'll make sure there's a uniform for you tonight, I'll leave it in my locker and text you the code - they'll give you a code tomorrow for your own locker."

"Okay, thanks."

"No problem. Anyway, have fun with this new guy of yours. If he's a scientist I'm guessing he's big on experiments... so I'm sure you'll have _lots _of fun experimenting."

"Oh, we will." Penny smirked.

"You still sure you don't want any help with moving?"

"Nah, I'm actually excited to have my own place and get everything organized the way I want it to be. Apparently the elevator in the building doesn't work so I'll just put on some skimpy clothes or something before the moving people arrive with my stuff so I don't have to carry it."

"Good idea. You gonna get your guy over to help?"

"Nah, I'll invite him over once it's all sorted out and stuff." Penny shrugged. "Okay, I'm next in line. See you soon. Bye, Kim."

"Bye! I'll text you about work. Enjoy your flight and good luck with your... date, or whatever this is."

"Not a date. Just... going out with a guy." Penny clarified, before hanging up and handing over her travel documents. She knew she had made her day so much busier this way - now instead of having the rest of the afternoon and evening to unpack, she would have to quickly unpack enough to be able to get ready to go out with Leonard and have a made bed and clean bathroom to come home to. At least she was only needed from midday at her new job, so she didn't have to worry about coming home early or waking up at a ridiculous hour.

Making her way through and onto the plane, Penny was directed to her seat. Placing her jacket in the overhead compartment and her handbag in the space beneath the seat in front of her, she finally sat down. "Here's to a new start in Pasadena... no jerks, a better agent, a little money... and a bit of freedom. And maybe Leonard." Sighing, Penny closed her eyes, using the rest of the boarding and takeoff time to take a short nap. Once they were in the air, she pulled out her laptop from her bag and got to work on the play she'd decided to start writing and working on as a distraction from her break-up with Kurt.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N - Got started on this after randomly waking up early at the start of the week (or was it the weekend?) and just finished it up tonight. Happy Friday! :) **

* * *

Standing with a multitude of fellow eagerly waiting people at the arrivals gate, Leonard watched the doors carefully for any sign of the blonde he was waiting for whilst doing his best to avoid being hit by people rushing past him or bumping him with their bags. He held a takeaway coffee in each hand after deciding that this was a nice gesture; after flying, coffee was always welcome - that was the conclusion he'd come to anyway. He'd gone against getting her anything more exciting that a simple black filter coffee after having a minor panic in the queue over ordering her something that she might have an allergic reaction to or simply didn't like.

After narrowly avoiding being elbowed by a tall woman talking angrily into her phone, he turned his head back to the doors and there she was. Not as made up as he'd seen her previously, slightly tired looking from the travelling, dressed down in a black sweater and blue jeans, but still breathtakingly beautiful. He squeezed past a few people so that he could be seen better; despite his having started out relatively near the front and near the exit path he'd somehow been pushed slightly further along. He put that down to his heigh - or lack of - that had always been a problem in large crowds. "Penny!" He called, hoping that she recognized him and that not too many people would begin staring at them.

Spotting Leonard once she heard her name called, Penny perked up in recognition and grinned as she made her way over. "Leonard! Hi, Leonard. Oh, thank you so much for coming here to pick me up."

"It's okay." Leonard gave a tiny shrug before gesturing toward the airport exit. "Lets move out of the way of all these people."

"That's a good idea," Penny nodded as they began heading down the aisle of waiting people. "My bags was one of the first so we'd probably get trampled by a hoard of Omaha-LA passengers."

Leonard chuckled, and they walked until they found a more empty spot by a large pillar. They stopped and Penny dropped her purse and the plastic bag she'd been carrying down by her feet before rolling her shoulders. Leonard held one of the cardboard cups of coffee out to here. "Here, I got you a coffee."

"Aww, that's so sweet!" Penny smiled, taking the cup. She took an appreciative sniff as she enjoyed the warmth in her hands before taking a sip. "Mm."

"Sorry it's just a black coffee, I didn't know what else you liked."

"No, it's fine, this is perfect." Penny assured him before taking another sip. "Oh, that is so good. So much better than plane coffee."

"How was your flight?"

"You know. the usual. Boring, one noisy baby, snoring person next to me... and I'm pretty sure there was pee on the floor of the toilet I went in. And it was really cold on that flight."

"That's too bad. Must be nice to be back on land then."

"Uh-huh, it really is."

"You wanna get going? If we leave now we should miss the traffic." Leonard suggested.

"Yes - good idea." Penny nodded, bending down to pick her purse back up. "I wanna be able to get at least some unpacking done before we go to dinner," she said as she hooked her bag over the pull-up handle of her suitcase and balanced it against it. "And sitting in traffic is the _worst, _especially after a flight."

"Let me take that," Leonard offered, pointing to the suitcase as Penny wiggled her arm to try get the plastic bag dangling from her arm to sit more comfortably on her wrist.

"Are you sure? You don't have to. It's kinda heavy... I always over-pack."

"No, that's okay." Leonard moved past her to take her suitcase before she could protest and began to walk toward the exit. "My car is this way."

Smiling to herself at his adorableness, Penny almost forgot to follow him. Quickly letting the plastic bag drop slightly so she was holding it in her hand, she jogged slightly to catch up with him. "Thanks again for coming to get me. Sorry if it disrupted your work."

"Really, it's okay. I usually start to get lazy after lunch anyway. When I'm working I don't have to put up with Sheldon - he's my roommate and colleague - so after having to deal with him at lunch it kinda drains me." Leonard laughed. "Here we are." He announced, stopping at his car.

"Damn, you managed to get a good parking space. Especially for an airport."

"I was just driving past this row to get to the other section and this car started pulling out so I quickly indicated in case there was a car coming toward us that might try get in there." Leonard opened the boot, handing Penny her purse before just about managing to lift her suitcase and put it in.

"Ah, sneaky and tactical." Penny nodded approvingly as she shut the boot for him and went round to the passenger side.

On his way to the drivers side, Leonard quickly and discreetly took a puff of his inhaler, managing to pocket it before getting into the car. How the hell could a suitcase be so heavy? As he put on his seatbelt, he raised a brow when he saw Penny's amused look. "What?"

"Nothing." Penny bit her lip. "Just last time we were both in this car together..."

"Oh, right, yeah." Leonard blushed slightly. There was a moment of silence in which they let their thoughts drift slightly before he cleared his throat. "So, uh, do you have your address? I'll put it in the navigation."

"Mm, yes," Penny nodded, putting her coffee into the cup holder and diving into her purse for her phone. Pulling it out, she opened up the notes to locate where she'd written it down as Leonard took a gulp of his coffee in attempt to finish it before he began driving. "Here we are. Apartment 4B, 2311 North Los Robles Avenue-"

Her finishing reading out the address was put to a halt as Leonard spat his coffee out over his steering wheel and dashboard. As Penny blinked at him, Leonard frowned, putting his coffee in the cup holder beside Penny's. "Crap. _Where_ did you just say your apartment was?"

"Uh... do you want some tissues?" Penny pulled a packet out of her purse and handed them to him. "It's 4B, 2311 North Los Robles. Why?"

"Thank you." Leonard opened up the tissue packet and took one out, beginning to wipe at the coffee. "It's just that..." Hesitating, he finished cleaning up the coffee with a second tissue. "Okay, we've had a lot of crazy co-incidences as it goes, right?" He said, and she nodded while he handed her back the tissue packet and shoved the used ones into the empty door compartment on his side. "I live at 4A, 2311 North Los Robles Avenue."

"Oh. Wow." Penny squeaked out. _This _she hadn't been expecting at all. She had thought about whether they would be living in close proximity, walking distance or need-a-car, how far apart they would be in Pasadena. Now she had her answer: right across from each other. A few footsteps. Practically neighbors. No, A and B were next to each other in the alphabet - they _were _neighbors. The part of Penny that wasn't freaking out about how close they were going to be was secretly really happy about it - if they as a pair weren't going to work out then there was always sex. If they did, all the better and more convenient. "So I guess you won't need the navigation then."

"No, I won't." Leonard agreed.

The pair were silent as Leonard started up the car and pulled out of the parking space. The silence was almost awkward, both startled by the new knowledge that they were going to be neighbors and not just two people who had met elsewhere and would be living in the same city by coincidence. The lack of definition in their relationship made the situation all the more complicated. They had hooked up and gone on a date, and he had picked her up from the airport and now they were neighbors. There seemed to be a thousand lines all colliding at once, and neither Penny nor Leonard were sure which ones were safe to step over.

Conversation during the journey was slow and small, though toward the end the two seemed to relax a bit. They got quiet again as they exited the car and Leonard took her suitcase out of the boot. "You want a hand taking it up?" Leonard offered, despite the fact that he knew full well taking something that heavy up all those stairs would mean a definite use of his inhaler in her presence afterwards.

"Oh, that's okay - when I came to see this place the elevator was broken and they said it's not getting fixed any time soon. I can't make you take it all the way up for me after you just got me all the way here." Penny said, waving a hand at him in dismissal.

"Sure?"

"Yeah." Penny nodded, following him into the building. "So is the elevator really not gonna get fixed?"

"Uh... yeah, it's pretty broken." Leonard nodded, walking slowly in front of Penny so she could carry her suitcase up comfortably. "It's been broken for ages so I wouldn't bet on it getting fixed any time soon. Or ever, really."

"So I'm just gonna have to walk up and down these stairs _every day?_" Penny exclaimed.

"To be fair... the people on the fifth floor have _more _stairs and they still manage it." Leonard said with a shrug. "Just think of it as an addition to your exercise regime."

"Ha, ha. Funny." Penny rolled her eyes. "So is the place nice? Are the people friendly?"

"They're okay. Kinda quiet, but I guess they just keep to themselves because if they don't they risk bumping into and talking to Sheldon."

"Sheldon is... your roommate, right?"

"Yup."

"You don't sound so happy about that."

"You'll get it when you meet him." Leonard sighed, just as they arrived at the landing between 4A and 4B. He gestured between the doors as she put her suitcase down with a huff of exhaustion. "So... this is our floor."

"Yeah... I _have _been here once before when they showed me the place." Penny grinned, pulling the keys out from her pocket in which she'd placed them for safekeeping. "I'm gonna get a head start on cleaning the place and unpacking this suitcase before the storage guys get here with my stuff - I'm on strict orders from Mom to like, wipe all the surfaces and clean the kitchen and bathroom before I do anything else. But call me like, an hour before dinner so I have enough time to shower and get ready, yeah?"

"Okay, sure." Leonard nodded. "You need a hand with any of that? The, uh, unpacking... not the showering." He clarified nervously.

Penny giggled. "No, it's okay - but thanks."

"Let me know if you need anything."

"I will. Mom managed to get some cleaning stuff in my suitcase for me so... I think I'm all set." Penny gave him a thumbs-up before putting her key in the lock for 4B.

"Always a great gift, cleaning stuff. Enjoy your new apartment."

"Thanks! I'll see you later."

As she stepped into her apartment, Penny gave Leonard a small wave before shutting the door. She released a heavy breath, still in disbelief that they were actually _neighbors. _The chances of this happening were insane, she thought. How often did your hook up become the neighbor you were maybe possibly dating? Shaking her head, she switched on the light and looked around the apartment.

"Okay. We can do this. Clean the bathroom so you can take a shower and can get ready for dinner with Leonard... then get started on everything else so you can unpack that dress for tonight." Penny said to herself, pulling her charger from her purse and plugging it into the wall before connecting her phone so it could charge while she played some music from it. "Besides, you can't invite a guy back to a dirty apartment."

* * *

"I see your new neighbor has settled in nicely." Raj said with a tiny nod.

Howard stared wide-eyed at the door of 4B. "So she _is _real!"

Sheldon gave Howard an incredulous stare. "Of course she's real! Why would I make her up?"

Howard shrugged, eyes not leaving the door. "It's not _you _making her up, it's Leonard who I thought may have made her up. It's difficult to believe that somebody so beautiful would be with somebody like him."

"Yes, it is." Sheldon agreed. "But can we please go back inside before that giggling of hers gives me a headache?" Suddenly he flinched. "Oh, great. Penny doesn't know the rule about clinking glasses after ten o'clock. What's worse is he obviously didn't tell her either and ignored the rule."

"_Or _we could gravitate closer toward the door and listen to what those two are doing." Howard suggested.

"That's creepy, dude." Raj shook his head.

"What? It could turn into live porn!"

"Speaking of ten o'clock," Sheldon cleared his throat, "and as you are speaking of things I do not wish to have spoken about in the doorway of my apartment, and your sole purpose of being here tonight was to see Leonard return with a woman, I believe it is your cue to leave."

"And end the fun?" Howard gasped.

"Again, creepy." Raj sighed, patting his pockets. "Lets go."

Howard stared at the door for a moment longer before tearing his gaze from it. "Fine, fine." Going past Sheldon to collect his jacket and pull it on, he added "But it's not fair that this noise will escalate into something worth listening to and Sheldon will be wearing his noise cancelling headphones - such a wasted opportunity."

"For the third time... that's creepy." Raj rolled his eyes as Howard stepped back out of the apartment. "See you tomorrow, Sheldon."

Sheldon looked at Howard. "Do you really think I'll need noise cancelling headphones?"

Howard walked over to the door of 4B and pressed an ear against it, before moving away and giving a confirmatory nod. "Yep. Enjoy your night."

"Oh, great." Sheldon sighed. "Goodnight."


End file.
